Given who had delivered the killing blow, however, all she could really do was muster a little smile.

For reasons unknown even to her, Annette had left the TV on for hours, so as to watch the going-ons in the mansion. If nothing else, it intrigued her.

She was also amused at just how many times Marigold almost came across the Omnipotent interloper in her home.

The Builder turned away from the current camera, kneeling forward on to the floor. Annette tried to see what they could possibly be doing.

On screen, The Builder took hold of the now unseen head with both hands. About the same moment she sat onto the bed, their head snapped forward, then jerked back.

Annette looked on as they spat a chunk of flesh and bone out onto the floor. Then they looked back and began to messily devour what she presumed to be Max’s brain matter.

Another camera screen displayed Marigold on her way to the same room. The Builder then snapped their head in the direction of the hallways.

Even without sound, Annette could’ve sworn she heard them cursing as they ran into the bathroom.

…

Standing at the entrance to the hospital now, Shark and Sinbad waited in silence. Neither of them knew what they would say when he inevitably confronted them with questions.

“He’s taking a long time. Is he making sure he and Uncle Dudley really were blood-related to that baby?”

Sinbad put his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “DNA don’t lie, man. Personally, I’m surprised you ain’t freaked out more by knowing you’d have the same half-sibling as them.”

“I know I should be, but…” Shark huddled closer to Sinbad, so as to try and warm up. “I guess I just feel bad for that child. Imagine if it were born in prison. That’s no place for a baby.”

“Yeah, I highly doubt your uncle would have left that kid in there. Maybe he’d have put it in foster care or something.” He wrapped an arm around his fiance. “Guess it doesn’t matter now, though. That kid was born dead, apparently.”

They they said nothing. In an effort to lighten the situation, Shark tried changing the subject.

“Did you leave the TV on for Sagebear when we left? I don’t like having to leave her alone, and we don’t have a working radio, so…”

Knowing what the dog was watching when they left the house got Sinbad to let out a snort. “She’ll be fine. As long as she doesn’t try selling crystal meth with a guy named Jesse after today.”

…

The Builder slid down into the bathtub, attempting to remain undetected in case Marigold wandered into the bathroom. Trying to maneuver around, they stuck their hand back into the head, and pulled out a handful of grey matter.

“Max! What were you doing on the floor? Wake up! Now don’t you pretend to be asleep! I know all your tricks!” Her ranting and raving made The Builder wish they still had eyes to roll.

“Addled old bat,” they muttered to themself before shoving Max’s brains into their mouth, and swallowing. Marigold continued going on, seemingly oblivious to the fact her husband no longer had a head.

“Come on now! Put on your fancy clothes! We’re going to dinner! That reminds me, I should wash up lest The Terminator can detect me through scent!”

The bathroom door opened, causing The Builder to drop Max’s head onto themself. The remainder of his head innards now splashed onto their clothing.

“Ah, shit! That ain’t gonna come out, is it?” Grabbing his now empty head, they jumped out of the tub and flung it across the room. Their actions were most definitely noticed.

…

Marigold fell to the ground, and pointed at her uninvited guest while shrieking like a demented banshee. They tried playing it cool, it looked to her.

“Uh…hey,” they said over her screaming. “Nice house you got here. Um…You’re probably curious as to why I just threw your husband’s head at the wall.”

Her response was as disjointed as could be expected. “Are you the Angel of Death?!” This accusation made them tilt their head, as if they were trying to find the right countering words.

“No,” they said while drawing the word out almost sarcastically, “I’m…Charles Lee Ray. Yeah, that’s me. Just don’t ask why I’m not in that creepy-ass doll.”

Their face lit up. “Hey! You know what could be fun?” They went off to think again. “You got access to a shotgun somewhere in this place, right?”

…

When Shark and Sinbad came home, Sagebear jumped up on them in a most jubilant welcome back.

“Hi, puppy! Did you enjoy your show while we were gone?” Shark made sure that the itch behind her ears was properly scratched.

“Gotta go out? Gotta go to the bathroom?” Sagebear barked to answer him, and began doing what he assumed was a potty dance.

Sinbad grabbed her leash for Shark, and handed it to him. He then checked the couch to make sure she didn’t have an accident.

Keeping Sagebear happy proved to be good for keeping the two men from worrying. Taking his seat on the couch, Sinbad watched the rest of the current episode. Outside, Shark could be heard laughing and calling Sagebear’s name.

By the time he managed to be properly engrossed in the show, Sinbad felt himself tackled onto his back. He then felt Sagebear snuffling and licking his face excitedly.

“Turns out she didn’t have to go to the bathroom. She just wanted to play.” Seeing that she was already covered with dirt, Sinbad believed him.

“I can see that,” he managed to sputter out in between dog kisses.

…

Horse-Face located the hidden passageway in the back of the cellar. He hoped his companion wouldn’t somehow notice that he’d been crying over him a lot as of recently.

It hadn’t taken long to find him, sitting against a wall. The young man appeared to be spacing out, quietly singing to himself.

“Hey,” Horse-Face said to get his attention. This resulted in the singing abruptly being ended. Apparently, his sobs were evident when he said the word.

“Are you thinking about what happened?”

Horse-Face shrugged. “In a way. I don’t blame her for wanting to shank me.” He sat down next to him, pulling his knees into his chest. “Maybe it would have been better if I did get my head blown off that day…”

The young man rested his head onto Horse-Face’s arm. “If you did, there might have been someone else more willing to have done it.” He sighed. “And they might not have tried to help me.”

“Yeah.” Without really thinking, he took hold of his hand, and weaved their fingers together.

“And I don’t hate you for following orders. I hate the person who gave them to you.”

A floor or two above them, Horse-Face then heard Moony indistinctly shouting at Ox-Head. Then followed Ox-Head’s hysterical jabbering.

“…You want to spend some time out of the passageways? The Builder isn’t here, and it sounds like shit’s going down, so…”

…

Annette was startled by the sound of the bedroom being thrown open.

“Is it that bad to talk about the time I exposed myself in a Denny’s?!” Ox-Head dove under the bed she was sitting on. Annette couldn’t help but notice he was holding a severed arm.

Mere seconds later, she could hear Moony shouting and spewing insults. His accent seemed to be coming out as he did so.